Worship
Service for August 3, 2025
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: Blessed be the Lord of Hosts, who cleanses
and heals our lives.
P: Praise be to God!
L: Blessed be the Holy One, who brings us
from despair to hope.
P: Praise be to God!
L: Blessed be the Giver of life, who nurtures
and comforts us.
P: Let us praise God with our whole hearts
and souls!
Opening Hymn – My Faith Looks
Up to Thee #383/539 Blue/Brown
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, in the daily grind
of life, we are so often taught to climb the ladder of success by stepping on
each other, focusing only on our own wants and needs. Even as children on a carousel, we were
taught to try to grab the brass ring, and it would fulfill our dreams of glory
and wealth. How we have been corrupted
to think in these terms, O Lord. Our
“dollar for a dream” mentality has gotten us into lots of trouble. We chase after all those false idols that
cannot ever sustain us and bring us peace. Forgive our stupidity, Lord. Forgive us when we believe that if we could
only win the Lottery, everything would be OK and we would be happy. It is only Your Son, Jesus Christ, who leads
us in the ways of happiness and peace, sustaining us with his life-giving water
and nourishing bread. Nurture us again,
Lord, that we may truly focus on the ministries and mission You have set before
us. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Jesus Christ is the one eternal Son of
God. Come to Him and know of His great
love for you.
P: We
will find healing in His presence, for God’s love is given to all.
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead. I believe in the
Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness
of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
O God of
unity and peace, bind us together as we worship You this day. Strengthen the ties that make us Your
family. Grant us the grace to recognize
our gifts and our place in this body.
Guide us to hear Your calling as You speak to our lives. Encourage us, O Lord, to bravely burst forth
as pastors, teachers, elders, deacons, prophets, and healers, evangelists and
leaders. Dwell in our very hearts, that
we may serve in humility – braided with strength and gentleness, intertwined
with passion, operating out of goodness.
Build us up in love, that we may grow in our knowledge and our love of
You. We ask that You speak Your truth to
our lives, that we may lead lives worthy of Your calling.
Eternal
God, generations have risen and fallen before You. Before the world even began, You were already
God, and from everlasting to everlasting You will always be God. Long ago You poured out Your Spirit on the
leaders of Israel and the church. Today,
we gather to experience your community and Your Spirit anew. Help us, O Lord to be stewards of love and
faithfulness, peace and kindness, gentleness and joy, goodness and hope.
This
morning we lift up to You all those for whom we love who are going through
extraordinary moments in their lives. We
pray for…
In this
time of silence we also pray what is heavy on our hearts…
Through
the love and passion of our dear Savior, we pray together... Our Father who art
in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn – Precious Lord, Take My Hand #404/684 Blue/Brown
Scripture Reading:
First Scripture Reading – Micah 6:6-8
Second Scripture Reading – Romans
12:1-13
Sermon –
Fruit
of the Spirit: Goodness
(based
on Romans 12:1-13, Micah 6:6-8)
As
we’ve already discussed, the Fruit of the Spirit isn’t something we can
manufacture on our own. It is the result
of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our lives. Just like fruit on a tree, the Fruit of the
Spirit grow well when we are rooted in the right environment, when we are
actively working at being intentional in our prayer life, reading scripture, being
in community with one another, listening to God’s spirit speaking to our
spirits, and doing our part to develop them.
A fruit tree, left to the wild, might produce fruit, but often that
fruit is small and full of blemishes. A
fruit tree that is regularly pruned, cultivated intentionally by the gardener,
always produces higher yields and better fruit. Growing in God’s Fruit of the Spirit requires
intentionality—it’s a partnership between God’s work in us and our willingness
to follow God’s lead in our lives.
Each
aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit speaks to a way that God is shaping us to
reflect God’s own heart, to become more Christ-like. We are more than halfway through the Fruit of
the Holy Spirit, so let’s quickly review the ones that we’ve covered.
Love
compels us to care for others selflessly. To think about others, at least as much as, if
not more, than ourselves.
Joy
reminds to find the blessings and the overflowing contentment of God’s presence
in our lives, even in difficult seasons.
Peace
steadies or calms us when life feels out of control and chaotic.
Patience
teaches us to wait on God’s timing.
Kindness
inspires us to get beyond a superficial niceness and actually act in ways that
bless others.
Today
we’ll touch on goodness and, in particular, how goodness is different
from kindness and even niceness, which we compared with kindness last week.
So,
what is the difference between being nice, being kind and being good. They seem an awful lot alike, don’t they? The nuanced differences between these three words lies in their
motivations and depth: being nice is not one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit;
why, as we mentioned last week, being nice is just being pleasant and
agreeable. It’s behavior that is often
driven by a desire to be liked. And as
far as God is concerned, being nice isn’t deep enough, it alone, doesn’t “cut
the mustard”, so to speak. It’s too much
of a surface reaction, with the possibility of wrong motivations. Being kind, which is one of the fruits of the
Holy Spirit is a moral act stemming from genuine care and a desire to ease
another's suffering, even if it's not the most pleasant course of action.
And today, being good is also one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. But how is it different from being kind? It is a broader term referring to a strong
moral character and socially acceptable behavior. It often encompassing both niceness and
kindness, but goes further in reflecting the core of who we are. Whereas, being kind, is sort of circumstance
specific – for example, “you did a kind deed.”
Good reaches into the very essence of our being. For example, You are a good person.
Let
me restate and reemphasize them, so that we’re clear about the differences and
their similarities.
Nice is primarily about being polite, agreeable, and
pleasant to be around, focusing on maintaining social harmony. It can be
surface-level and motivated by a desire for approval or to avoid conflict.
Kind involves genuine empathy, compassion, and a deeper
intent to help others, even if it's difficult or goes against what is
immediately pleasing. Kindness is often motivated by values and virtues
rather than social expectation. It is often
circumstance specific.
Good describes
a person’s inner strength and moral compass and a character that consistently
does what is nice, kind, and right, for the benefit of everyone.
While
often used in the context of actions, being a "good person" is more
about one's fundamental character.
For
example:
A
"nice" person might smile and nod while a friend is being talked
about perhaps in a less than flattering way, but would remain silent. They were being nice to be socially
acceptable to those present who were talking, but they weren’t being nice to
their friend, right?
A
"kind" person would stand up for their friend, even if it created an
uncomfortable situation for those who were doing the less than flattery talking.
So, not falling in with what the crowd was saying or doing simply to be
socially accepted, but rather saying something like, “That’s not very nice. You shouldn’t say things like that. She’s my friend.”
A
“good” person, would figure out how to stand up for the person being talked
about AND would somehow find a way to also validate the feelings that the rest
of the group felt and reshape the negative attitude or perception. “That’s not very nice. You really shouldn’t say things like that,
especially when she’s not here to defend herself. However, I hear that you are really upset
with her because she did…., maybe you could talk to her and ask her why that
happened. There could be a very
reasonable explanation rather than just jumping to some conclusions that aren’t
very helpful. If you’d like, we could go
talk to her together.”
That
is being a good person. Certainly not being
nice – smiling and nodding while your friend was being negatively talked about,
and not just kind, speaking the truth, but perhaps creating an awkward and
uncomfortable social situation, but good – standing up for your friend, but
validating the feelings of others and offering ways of redeeming the situation.
This
way of thinking, of heartfelt deep longing to make sure the current situation
is addressed, but that a deeper, longer lasting solution is found, rectified,
and redeemed.
Nice
doesn’t address the issue at all.
Kind
addresses the moment.
Good
addresses the moment and goes beyond to seek a more permanent solution.
Being
good reaches into the depths of our character to reflect God’s image to the
world.
There
is an expression that a lot of churches use.
It’s sort of a common refrain among our more conservative brothers and
sisters. Often it is used when a speaker
says something that reflects the nature of God and they’ll then say: God is
Good and the listeners often say in response All the Time and then they say God
is Good and the speaker says, All the Time.
L: God is Good
P: All the Time
L: All the Time
P: God is Good
Why? Why do they do
that. They do it because our scriptures
tell us that God is good.
In both Matthew 7 and Luke 11 there’s a story about God
being good. “Ask, and it will be given
to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone
who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child
asked for bread, would give a stone? Or
if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good
things to those who ask him!”
And that God was good from the very beginning. God created the light and saw that it was
good. God created the heavens and the
earth and saw that it was good. God
created the vegetation that grows upon the earth and saw that it was good. God created the fish of the sea, the birds of
the air, and all the living creatures that flourish upon the earth and God saw
that it was good. And God created human
beings and saw that it was good. So from
the very beginning – all the time, God is good.
So, that refrain they use is just a simple reminder that God
is Good. P: All the Time. L: All
the Time. P: God is Good.
Today’s scripture reading from Micah reminds us that we are
to be good. “He has told you, O mortal,
what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Again,
growth takes time. No tree bears fruit
overnight. It begins with planting
seeds—spending time in God’s Word, seeking God in prayer, surrounding ourselves
with others who encourage our faith, spending quiet time with God which is a
bit different than seeking God in prayer, it requires being quiet and listening
to what God has to say to you. Too often
we like to fill up our time with God by speaking, by praying to God about all
the things that are wrong in our lives, in the lives of those we love and in
the world. But spend time just
listening, too. And finally, actively
working on what God speaks to you about.
As
we abide in Christ, the Holy Spirit waters those seeds, pruning areas that
aren’t producing and are full of blemishes, nurturing new growth.
We
may not always see the results right away, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t
working. Every act of obedience, every
moment spent in God’s presence, and every choice to rely on God’s strength over
our own moves us closer to the image of Christ.
As
we grow in the fruit of the Spirit, we become a reflection of God’s love to the
world. People around us notice the
difference, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of what God is
doing in us.
L: God is Good
P: All the Time
L: All the Time
P: God is Good
Thanks
be to God.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Through
these gifts, O God, may we grow in the knowledge of Christ and be strengthened
in the unity of faith. We ask, precious
Lord, that you transform them into the bread of life so that in our giving
others may be fed. And we ask that You
make these gifts into living waters that spring up into eternal life so that in
our giving others may be nurtured and strengthened as children of God. In Your name we pray. AMEN.
Holy
Communion
The Invitation:
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I
give to you. If you love me, rejoice
because I am going to the Father.”
Today, we are invited to join with Christ at the Table and in so doing
we join one another to be nourished by the one who tells us, “I am the Bread of
Life.” All are invited, so come.
God’s blessings are poured out to us through the life,
death, work, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, by whose grace creation
is renewed, by whose love heaven is opened, by whose mercy we offer our
sacrifice of praise. God’s love compels
us to come to the Table. At the Table we
are cleansed and fed with the precious elements of body and blood that God may
live in us and we in him, and that we, with the whole company of Christ may sit
and eat in God’s kingdom.
The Breaking of the Bread and the Pouring of the Cup
On the night before He died he had supper with
his friends and, taking bread, Jesus gave praise to God. He broke the bread, gave it to them and said,
“Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of
me.”
(Bread is distributed)
When supper was ended he took the cup. Again, he gave praise to God and gave it to
them and said, “Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me.
(The Cup is distributed)
Prayer after Communion
Lord of all life, help us to work together for
the day when your kingdom comes and justice and mercy will be seen in all the
earth. Look with favor upon us, your
people, gather us in your loving arms and bring us with all the saints to feast
at your Holy Table in heaven. As we
listen to Your word, worship you in majesty, long for your refreshing,
renewing, equipping, and empowering; we wait.
We wait for the day of your return, but we work for the establishment of
the Kingdom of God now. Open our hearts to
the wonder and joy of your Holy Spirit that teaches us anew every day. AMEN.
Closing
Hymn – Amazing Grace #280/343
Blue/Brown
Benediction –
Friends, we
are joined together in Christ in order to share our gifts with the world. Knit together by Christ, we strive for the
goodness God’s Spirit grants us, ready to serve. L: God is Good. P: All the time. L: All the time. P: God is good. Go in peace.
AMEN.
Postlude
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